Five Days in Puerto Rico

Do you know that moment when you pull up to a hotel for the first time,

holding your breath, hoping it's going to live up to your expectations?

After days -- sometimes months -- of scrutinizing photos online,

and reading every single Tripadvisor review,

sometimes you are relieved...

sometimes you are disappointed...

and sometimes you are ecstatic.

This time?
I'm pretty sure the hotel's video cameras caught me doing 
a happy jig as I walked into the lobby.

I had super-high expectations for our stay last week in Puerto Rico.

We had booked the St. Regis Bahia Beach, 
a AAA 5-diamond resort in the Rio Grande area
and it did not disappoint.

If you have read some of my other travel posts, 

you may know that more often than not, we don't pay for hotel rooms. 
Huh, you say?

We've been Starwood Hotel members for 10 years,

which means that we accumulate hotel points, 

and use them for free hotel stays. 

For our Christmas week vacation,

we had just enough points for five nights at the St. Regis.

The hotel is about 35 minutes from San Juan, 
near the El Yunque national rain forest.

Translation?
Kind of in the middle of nowhere,

meaning that we'd pretty much be at the hotel 24/7.

It had better be good.  

We had a 7:00am flight on Christmas morning.

By the time we arrived in Rio Grande, we were good and tired,  

but the approach road had our eyes popping out of our heads. 

The resort is spread over 483 acres, which scared me a little. 
I mean, too big could feel, well, TOO BIG,
especially in high-heeled sandals.

The resort abuts the rain forest, and the entrance had a lush, tropical feel.

An enormous fountain greeted us.

It felt like a long ride from the entrance to the Plantation House, 
the hotel's main building.
Heck, it was a long ride. 

Plantation House at night.

Koi pond at Plantation House at night.

The porter took our luggage into the lobby, 
and offered us a welcome cocktail.
"Would you like it strong, or not so much?"
Hell, yeah, I wanted it strong, but didn't think a tipsy mommy before lunch
would set a good example in front of the teenager, 
so I compromised, and said "medium."

Always the blogger, I was tempted to fluff up the pillows and clear away 
the cup and water bottle before taking my picture,
but I restrained myself.

Hotel lobby

I had to sneak a peak at what was outside all of those doors.
Ahhhh...the veranda.
Siri, take a note: 
Sit here in the morning with a cup of coffee... 

...and savor that view!

The fact that we didn't have enough points to upgrade to ocean or pool view, 
meant that our room was in East Jabib, overlooking the golf course. 
It was pretty, but seemed far from everything.

Did you spot Junior Goo Shoes?

View from our room

 Actually, once we got our bearings, 
it was only about a 2-minute walk to the Plantation House,
and five minutes to the pool and beach.
Oh, and that walk?
Boardwalks through the tropical foliage with soft music playing on speakers 
hidden in the trees isn't a bad way to commute.

The foliage was so spectacular,
that I'm saving it for a separate post.

The hotel grounds were immaculately groomed.

There was a beautiful golf course...

 ...and a lake with slides, kayaks, and paddle boards.
We didn't do anything. 
We were just beach slugs.

There were many fine spots for morning coffee...
or afternoon cocktails.

The beach was spectacular. 
It was just how we like it - lots of room to spread out.

"The Spot" was a cute place to have a bite to eat, or a tropical cocktail.

When it got too windy at the beach, we went to the pool.
And by pool, I mean POOL.
It was huge!

So many pictures, but it was just so photogenic :)

The St. Regis in Puerto Rico was definitely one of the nicest hotels we've stayed in.

As soon as I left, I wanted to go back.

We better start saving up those hotel points. 

Linking with:

Tweak It Tuesday
Wow Us Wednesday
Weekend Travel Inspiration
Our World Tuesday  
Take Me Away